Trust
by MariskaRose
Summary: Nina tries to kill an old friend, a new enemy. Jack finds an equal.


Nina Myers strode through the various corridors of UCLA searching for a woman she once knew, once considered a friend. She turned a corner and crashed into a petite brunette sending her books and bag flying. The woman bent down and grabbed her things quickly yet Nina strode on. She stood up and turned around.

"Excuse me," she called, after Nina. I really do not have time for this, Nina thought, got to blend in she thought. Nina turned around slowly. The young brunette walked slowly up to Nina. Nina watched the brunette walk up to her. A flicker of recognition crossed her face and slow smile changed the steely expression on her face. The brunette walked up to Nina oblivious to who she was and consequently the heartbreak she'd caused. She stopped about a metre in front of Nina and studied her face and was surprised by the intense hatred she felt for her.

"Lara?… Lara Doherty?" Nina asked in a strange voice. The woman looked shocked.

"Yes. You are?" Lara answered her mind working over time as to why she somehow knew the woman in front of her. Her face dropped as she realised who it was. Nina recognised the changes in her face, recognition, anger, fear, and hatred. She'd seen them before under other circumstances. Nina smiled.

"Hi Lara I'm back." She said, speaking precisely and teasingly nasty. Students walked passed, looking at Lara, their psychology professor, who in turn was looking bizarrely at Nina Myers.

"What do you want?" Lara whispered. Tensing every muscle in her body preparing to fight, like she had done so many times in the past, each time she had, she never imagined she would ever have to fight Nina- her friend, but that was before. Nina moved her jacket indicating a gun or weapon of some sort.

"Revenge? Justice, I don't know what you'd call It." She spoke cockily and nodded her head to a door on their right. Lara obediently followed; transfixed in many ways by the woman she hadn't seen in many long years. They walked into the room Lara's mind thinking quickly as to what to do remembering the mobile phone in her pocket. Nina turned and locked the door. Lara was in familiar territory, all her confidence coming back to her. She discreetly put her hand in her pocket frantically pressing at numbers she had not used in a year or two, but to whom she'd seen regularly. She turned and stared at Nina. Nina was slightly unnerved by the change in atmosphere, the quiet confidence- she'd never felt it before, well, once before… with someone she could have loved. Lara was silent for a whilehoping the call would connect, praying Nina wouldn't hear the person pick up.

After a few minutes she spoke.

"So, Nina Myers," she said casually yet confidently and quite loudly. "What do you want with Lara Doherty?" She hoped the third person, wouldn't make Nina suspicious.

"Well, there are many things I WANT with you Lara." She snarled apparently unaware of the third person approach. "I need to know I'm safe and then well we know what's going to happen then don't we." Nina nudged the gun in her pocket and finally took it out. The heavy weight making her fell powerfula nd in control.She paced back and forth. Lara was leaning against a table praying he was getting everything.

"So you'll shoot me? Then what, my boyfriend's picking me up. He's going to come in and then what Nina? He'll search all psychology rooms at UCLA and then… well he'll find you and me and then you'll be arrested." She tried to speak confidently. Nina laughed.

"You don't have a boyfriend, not a serious one, not since I shot your fiancée Daniel in the back of the head. Not since you tried to get me fired by telling dear, Jack Bauer and George Mason at CTU that I did it and not since they didn't believe you and you resigned. I've been keeping tracks on you Lara. I've been away but ever so close. Kinda scary don't you think?" Nina was trying to get a reaction out of Lara, to bait her and Lara knew it. Keep her talking,Lara thought. 10 or 15 minutes more… She had to go through the motions, it was what she was teaching… Even though it was truthful and painful she had to do this.

She remembered finding Daniels body- how warm it had felt as she clutched at his lifeless form willing it weren't true and that the woman who she considered her best friend could murder someone so special. She remembered Jack telling her there was no evidence against Nina absolutely none at all, not a scrap. She remembered the look Nina had given her – like she'd done nothing wrong but Sarah knew otherwise- so had Daniel. He knew she was bent, but with no evidence he couldn't prove anything, he had just observed her, kept a close eye on her. She remembered the day Jack had called her to say that Nina had been arrested and that Terri had been murdered. She remembered the way he'd broken down and she'd consoled him as best she could, knowing how painful it was. More than anything she remembered the day Jack had called saying Nina had been given a pardon.

"What safety can I give you Nina?" she asked quietly pushing all thoughts of Daniel and Jack to the back of her mind. She crossed her arms and made herself appear confident.

"Come on Lara," Nina taunted, "You were a field agent, you get the information out of the "bad" guys and then that's it-bang. I need to know how much Danny had told you. I couldn't kill you while I was at CTU, someone would guess it wasn't a coincidence. You knew me better than anyone Lara, you were big on psychology- doing extremely well- you'd have figured everything out. Then I got caught and I obviously couldn't do anything then but well… now im free…I heard you've been doing your own private investigation in to me, trying to find me again, well I couldn't let that happen, could I? " She finished. "So what do you know?"

"Why Daniel? He couldn't touch you…" she asked quietly. Trying to get away from the fact that she could die if she answered that question. She had to keep her talking for about 5 minutes if the call had connected. Nina look taken aback.

"Don't you know? Lara he was watching and following me around. He knew too much as It was. I don't know if you know this, but he had me investigated- internally. They didn't find anything, much to clever for that… but the risk was too big…"

Lara kept looking up at the clock on the far wall. It had been over five minutes now. She resigned to the fact that the call hadn't connected and she somehow had to get her self out of this. Nina noticed. She looked up at the clock. Nina faced Lara looking angry.

"What have you done?" she snapped and walked over to her and searched her. The gun always pointed at Lara's chest. She noticed Lara's hand in her pocket and forced her hand in, taking the phone out. She looked at the screen. 476-555-0098.

"Who the hell is this," she said with urgency in her voice. Lara laughed in her face- winding her up. "You've not lost your common sense." She muttered.

Nina turned her back, to throw the phone away and Lara attacked. She kicked Nina's legs who fell awkwardly, Lara went straight for the gun to take it off her, grappling to prise it from her hands. Nina reached out and smacked Lara over the head with it. Lara fell and went to trip Nina up. A small yelp escaped her lips as she heard the gunfire and sharp, nipping, burning pain in her arm. She instinctively put her hand to the pain and felt it damp. By the time she looked up Nina had stood pointing the gun at her.

"You evil…" Lara began but was interrupted by the crashing of the door off its hinges and twelve men heavily armed pour in to the room.

"Nina put the gun down," she heard the familiar voice command. Nina weighed up her chances. Twelve men, each with unique training – she didn't even attempt to win this one. She dropped the gun to the floor and Lara dragged herself up, the pain in her arm almost unbearable. Four men walked forward and searched her while the rest waited guns poised.

"Clear," one agent shouted and no sooner said, the handcuffs were around her hands and she was being led out. Lara stood up.

"Wait," she said. The agents turned Nina around. "You disgust me." She simply said in Nina's face.

She was angry with herself. Nina had caused all that pain and all that heartbreak and that was all she could say. Truthfully she didn't think she could ever find the words to explain to Nina how she felt. The agents turned and walked Nina out of the room- to prison for a long time. Lara just stared, oblivious to Jack who was tending to her arm.

"I think its going to be ok." He whispered in her ear. She looked at him. He smiled, not quite sure how she'd handle dealing with Nina like this for the first time since Daniel. She drew her arm across her middle and followed Jack as he slowly walked her out of the room…..

**_3 Months later_**

Lara walked over to the round café table that Jack was sat at. She sat down next to him.

"Hi," they said in perfect unison and smiled. Sarah ordered a diet coke and Jack got a black coffee.

"Long day?" Lara asked nodding toward the drink.

"The longest." Jack said and took a drink. Jack looked at her arm.

"It's fine now, gets a little twingey sometimes as you know but its fine." Lara answered, as she knew what the next question would be. She smiled reassuringly. The atmosphere was unusually uncomfortable. They'd met up a few times since that day with Nina. Just for coffee but a steady relationship was building. Each hoping secretly it could be something more. Each took a sip of their drink watching other people come and go around them.

"I've got something to ask you." Jack said quietly. Lara looked up but said nothing. She felt it was something important and serious.

"There's a vacancy at CTU and we want you to work for us Lara. As a field agent again but we want you to use psychological profiling to help us that way." Lara raised an eyebrow. She'd thought many times since that day with Nina of re-joining CTU. Even with all the terrible things that had happened she somehow felt it was where she belonged- it was what she was the best at- field work.

"I don't know Jack…." Lara answered. He took her hands in his. It was comforting- made her feel safe.

"Lara. I never felt so…amazed at the way you handled everything with Nina. Afterwards you acted…." He struggled to find the words. "Lara, this is what you're good at. It's like a natural ability you have… You don't panic, you think things through and then act… this country needs people like you Lara. I know how you feel. When I was brought back to CTU I thought I couldn't work there again - I truly believed I couldn't …but I did and this time it'll be me and you against **everything**- we can work together again. Remember how it was before? We were good at it- complete trust." Jack finished. Lara thought hard. She did remember.

"You're right it is what im good at – I felt something that day. I can't just give up my work at UCLA not right away and i only want to work with you- at first anyway- until I feel happy trusting others. Just please don't destroy it again…" she finished almost pleading. Jack smiled and squeezed her hands. They got up and walked down the road towards her small home hand in hand, an everlasting bond formed between them that nothing could break. Each relied on the other to survive each day, one at a time. They needed each other and that's the way it would always be.


End file.
